Regulation D is an SEC rule designed to help small businesses raise capital by offering the sale of unregistered securities to investors deemed qualified to step into the private-placement market. Since the rule was created in 1982, the threshold for becoming an accredited investor had entirely to do with the size of the investor’s bank account, rather than any financial acumen.
The rule is due for a required review this year and it appears as if expanding the definition to include investors who meet a sophistication test is on the table. If that were to happen, it could be...

The ultimate decision of the Supreme Court in this ERISA fee litigation case will have a lasting impact on how we understand the fiduciary duty to monitor. In this guest post from AIFA designee Roger Levy, read why fi360's Prudent Practices say the standard for monitoring an investment is as stringent as the standard used to select an investment.

There is no one right way to write an IPS. There is no prescribed set of topics that need to be included. The length of an IPS can be whatever is right for the advisor and the client.
For that reason, the appropriate length of an IPS rests with what needs to be said and how detailed the discussion of the selected topics need to be.
THE "FOR DUMMIES” version OR just the facts?
For example, if you want to include "Risk Tolerance" as a topic in your IPS, your entire discussion of that might just...

The White House came out strong today in support of raising the standard of care for anyone providing advice on retirement accounts. Speaking at AARP, President Obama aimed his comments to investors, explaining how small differences in fees can have a big effect on account balances and making the case for a “best interests” standard for advisors. This came in coordination with the release of a report by the White House Council of Economic Advisers on the economic effects of conflicts of interests by advisors, as well as new PR efforts on the White House website. As we...

As the industry waits for the DOL to re-propose its fiduciary rule, a case at the appellate level last year provides an interesting preview of the upcoming debate. Last September, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit decided that a retirement plan provider was not a functional fiduciary by virtue of its role selecting and monitoring a “Big Menu” of funds for its clients to select from. This was not a surprising result, as it merely reinforced settled law from previous court decisions.
What makes this case so interesting is how the plaintiffs, defendants, and...